The Government has expanded the coverage of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme from 350,000 to 450,000 households, as new grant rates come into effect this month.
The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, said the expansion followed a comprehensive reassessment of existing beneficiaries using data from the National Household Registry.
She said the exercise had resulted in more than 226,000 households graduating from extreme poverty, while about 450,000 eligible households were being retained or enrolled under the revised programme ceiling.
Dr Lartey announced this at the Government Accountability Series Press Conference at the Presidency in Accra.
She said the reassessment and expansion formed part of what she described as the most significant transformation of the LEAP programme since its establishment.
Under the revised structure, the average bi-monthly grant has increased from GH¢334 in 2024 to GH¢424 in 2026 and now GH¢569, representing a 70 per cent increase.
The new grant rates have also been linked to an indexation mechanism designed to protect beneficiaries against the effects of inflation.
Dr Lartey said the Ministry began disbursing the first and second payment cycles for 2026 on Monday, September 14, with the two cycles being paid together.
“Each eligible household will receive twice the applicable bi-monthly amount, as the two cycles will be paid together,” she said.
Under the revised payment structure, households with one to two members and a vulnerable member will receive GH¢392 per bi-monthly cycle, while similar households without a vulnerable member will receive GH¢380.
Households with three to four members and a vulnerable member will receive GH¢474, compared with GH¢452 for those without a vulnerable member.
For households with five or more members, those with a vulnerable member will receive GH¢630, while households without a vulnerable member will receive GH¢594.
The Minister said the revised rates were intended to strengthen the programme’s support for vulnerable households while making the value of the grants more responsive to changing economic conditions.
She further assured eligible persons who had been assessed and enumerated but had not yet completed their biometric registration that they would not lose their entitlements.
According to her, the registration process had been designed to enable all 450,000 targeted households to be onboarded by the end of 2026 and receive their full benefits.
Dr Lartey urged beneficiaries experiencing enrolment or grievance-related challenges to contact the LEAP Management Secretariat for assistance.
She provided the telephone number 0303 969 399 and toll-free lines 0800 800 800 and 0800 900 900 for beneficiaries seeking clarification or reporting concerns.
The Minister said the expansion and reassessment of the programme were aimed at ensuring that LEAP support remained targeted at households that continued to require social protection assistance.
